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Thursday, January 16, 2014

A New Book! Finding Harmony

I had a great surprise in my mailbox yesterday - a new book to read! The book, Finding Harmony, is due out everywhere on February 1st but I am super lucky and got a pre-release copy of the book. Yay!

Here's the new book - Finding Harmony. I love the cover!

Finding Harmony is the third novel in the Kate & Annalise series written by Pamela Fagan Hutchins. Though I already have a stack of books to read, Finding Harmony is going to the top of my list because I have been waiting, somewhat impatiently, for it to get published.

Why? Because I was so taken with the storyline in books one and two (Saving Grace and Leaving Annalise) that I've wanted the series to keep going. In fact, back in July when I finished reading Leaving Annalise (at 2:00 a.m.) I immediately tweeted Pamela to ask her if she was going to write another book in the series. I wanted more! I was pleased to get a tweet back saying that, yes indeed, Pamela had another Kate & Annalise book in the works. I've been waiting to read it ever since.

How did I find Pamela's books in the first place? Well, I "met" Pamela through the 30 Days of Biking challenge a few years ago. We ended up on a virtual bicycling team called Loving the Bike and, through that connection, discovered that we are both writers in addition to being bike riders. Then, through following Pamela's blog and tweets, I discovered she was writing a book, Saving Grace.

Months later, I discovered Pamela was on a 60 city book tour and would be coming to a Barnes & Noble near my home. So I went to the book signing, met Pamela and her husband, Eric, in person (hugs all around - I was so comfortable with them it was as if we were old friends) and went home that afternoon with two new books to read - Saving Grace and Leaving Annalise.

I got to meet Pamela Fagan Hutchins in person at her book signing in Minnesota.

Now I'll be honest with you, I wasn't expecting to be impressed with Saving Grace. I knew that Pamela published the book on her own (she actually created her own publishing house in the process - SkipJack Publishing) and I had read self-published books before and found that most lacked in quality editing and, usually, the writing lacked as well. I also don't often read murder mystery romance books that have"voodoo spirits" in them so was a little unsure if Saving Grace was my "type" of book. Likely because of my doubts, I started Saving Grace and put it down after a bit. I do that with books fairly often - I'm a bit too busy to just sit and read or maybe am not in the mood for a certain book at a certain point in time. Soon, however, I found I had the time to sit and really give Saving Grace a go.

I figured the book would be a decent read but discovered instead an excellently written, superbly edited book with funny characters and a compelling storyline. So much for wondering if Saving Grace would be my "type" of book - a good story is a good story and I really enjoyed Saving Grace and found myself up until the wee hours of the morning finishing it. And, since I already had Book Two in hand, I started reading Leaving Annalise right away and could not put it down. And, yes, ever since I finished it I've been waiting to read more. And now that I have Finding Harmony in my hands I can!

Guess what? I'm giving away a copy of Finding Harmony. Would you like to win it? Just leave me a comment on this post or email me at myrnacg@integra.net. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and choose a lucky winner on February 1st.If you want to order a copy of Finding Harmony or one of Pamela's other books (she writes non-fiction, too, including a book about indie publishing), visit Pamela's Amazon page. For information on Pamela's writing adventures and get news and updates on her book tours and the like, be sure to check out Pamela's blog at: http://pamelahutchins.com

9 comments:

It's been great getting to know you through Loving the Bike and in person last summer. I'm thrilled you enjoyed the books, and that we're showing you a new kind of indie -- the authorpreneurs who choose the route not b/c they can't get a publishing deal, but because it's the right business decision. I walked away from three agents (looking at three different books I'd written) when I took this exciting leap, and what a crazy ride it has been. I still see many, MANY poorly written and unedited self-published works out there, though, and one of the hallmarks of the summer book tour was the incredulous reaction from the Barnes & Nobles managers about how professional we were and how much they loved my books, "YOU'RE indie???" ;-) So, with any investment of time/money, look for reviews validating a "product" (book in this case) before you invest, whether indie or traditional. It's a crazy, crazy time in publishing, and the possibilities for a writer are endless. But I digress, here. Thanks so much for reading the Katie & Annalise books. I hope they brought a little sunshine and warmth up north. My work-in-progress is called Going for Kona, and it is a romantic mystery in the triathlon world. I think you'll like it, lots of bicycling, no Fat snow tires required!

Liz - I know you will love the second book - and the third! I have started Finding Harmony and am, once again, finding myself up late saying "just one more page" then, "ok, how about to the end of the chapter."

Mynra,What a great post. Awesome of you to do it. And also to come out and meet Pamela on the tour. It is through wonderful people like you that are so supportive of Pamela that she has a chance to reach a national audiance. Watching her writing carear develop has been such a great experience but the best thing of all is to meet people like you.

About Me

Myrna CG Mibus is a freelance writer based in Webster, Minnesota, a tiny town near the historic city of Northfield. A private pilot, quilter, gardener and fledgling bicyclist, Myrna specializes in writing about aviation, the arts, interesting people and her family’s flying adventures.